\_

e Flabby to gue A
co lo
an d wnrt1sh n
ind ca tes .<U defJC en cy
oo rd er,
ph leg m- da mp n
ret en tio n of
r nd ,ca tes p•
deep red m colou
io, and hypera
heat in t he mter
heart .
cra ck s on the
ton gu e. Irreg ula r str eaks or
f . Crac ke d
umpt on of bo dy
fluid by excessrve
ica te co ns t\:
1ongue ind ne y and hyperactM
los s of the es sence of th e ktd
he at .
(deficienc y) or yin
of fire du e to xu
t to ngue. wi th ou t
tongue or a cracked
.' Congenital cracked
:±J! any morbid signs.
are considered no
r-ria
(J ~-. .~~ ~ ov er the surfac
The papillary buds
.,-. K g. Th
of the tongue sw
orn y ton gu e.
elling up like tho
rns and usually red
n c he at.
,,
r

: ),
ica te hy pe ra cti vity of pathoge
colour, ind
t is fl9 J
I ' .... _ - ,.,,.6'"

an d tre mu lou s ton gue. A tongue tha tte ri~

~, h. Rigid roll, leads to stu
otrude, retract or and disturbanJ
,, and di ffi cu lt to pr
of exogen s heat tes damage
I
as ion ou
and ind ica tes inv ind ica
legm-heat. lt also
'
I
of th e mi nd by ph str on g he at wh ich stirs up
th e liv er by
th e yin of wind-phlegm.
uc tio n of collaterals by
wi nd , or ob str itlness often indi
mu lou s to ng ue seen in protracted
tre qi and yin.
xu (deficiency) of bo th
struction of
This indicates ob
i. Deviated tongue.
.. phlegm.
collaterals by wi nd
rrespdnd to the
tt: T.-~ '4 ffi "' ~nd Urinary Bladder co )poctively. 381
lro
~,~ of u ~ <Jtr.,rn
;,tt;h and Yidnr;y ru'
38 0
 2,. Ton gue coa ting :
a. White coating. The tongue's whi tish coa
·. · be· thin or thick, sticky or dry . ting may
A thin whi te coating is
normal, but when it is seen in an exogen
ous disease, it
usually indicates invasion of the Lung
by win d..cotd.
Thick whi te coating usually indicates r~tent~o
Wh ite stic ky coating usually indicates n of foo d.
mvasron b~ the
exogenous cold-damp or retention o~ p~le
interior.
gm-~amp. m the
Dry whi te coating usually indicates rnvas,on
by
the pestilential factor.*
b. Yel low coating. A yel low coating_
ma y be thin or thick, sticky or dry. A thrnon the ton~ue
yel low coatmg
usu ally indi cate s invasion of the lun g
by win d-h eat , wh ile
a thick-y yel low coa ting usually indicate
s persistent acc u-
mu lati on of foo d in the stomach and
intestines. Yel low
stic ky coa ting usually denotes acc um ula
tion of dam p-h eat in
the inte rior or blockage of the Lun g by
phl egm -he at. Dry
yei low coa ting usu ally Ind icat es acc um
ula
the Sto ma ch and Intestines wh ich resultstion of hea t in
in dam age to
the yin.
c. Greyish bla ck coating. A gre yish bla
ck coa ting on
the ton gue ma y be mo ist or dry. Gre
yish black mo ist
coa ting usually denotes retention of
cold-damp in the
inte rior or too mu ch endogenous cold due
to xu (deficiency)
of yang. Gre yis h-b lac k, dry coating usually ind
con sum ptio n of bod y flui d by excessive
icates
heat or hyperactivity
of fire due to xu (deficiency) of yin.
d. Peeled coating. The tongue wit h its coating
peeling
o.ff is known as a "geographic ton gue ." If
the entire coating
peels off leaving the surface mirror smooth,
the condition
is kno wn as glossy tongue. Both manife
stations indicate
the crisis in a long illness in wh ich the
antipa
factor is severely damaged and the yin is grossly thogenic
deficient.
The abnormal changes of the ton gu e proper and
coating
suggest the nature and changes of diseas
e from
aspects. Generally speaking, observations of the different
in the tongue proper is mainly to differentiate cha nges
whether
h~ c~n~ition of the zang-fu organs, qi, blood
and body
lu,d 1s ,n a xu or shi state; while observatio
n of the
Epidemic factor.
 .
tongue coating is for judging the condition of pathogenic
factors. Comprehensive analysis of the changes in both .
the tongu~ prop_er. and its coating is therefore necessary
when a d1agnos1s 1s made by observations of the tongue.·

Attention should be paid to the exclusion of false

Phenomena, such as the tongue proper becoming redder
and the coating thinner after eating or drinking hot
beverages. Some food and drugs colour the tongue
coating, e.g., olive, mulberry or plum may ,give it a greyish
black hue ; liquat, orange, coptis or riboflavin may make
it yellow. Those w ho smoke or drink alcohol or tea often
have a thick yellow or greyish yellow tongue coating. As
observation of the colour, of both the tongue proper and
its coating, is an important procedure in diagnosis ; it is
desirable that it be done in daylight."

Modern medicine also recognises many important

pathological changes of the tongue as an aid to diagnosis>

1. An unduly enlarged tongue occurs in acromegaly,

myxoedema, cretinism and mongolism. Amyloid disease of
the tongue also causes enlargement of . the. tongue.
Myelomatosis is a common cause of amyl01d disease of
the tongue.

2. A fissured tongue occurs in mental defectives,

mongols and in vitamin B complex deficiencies.

3 Angiomas of the lips or tongue may point t~ si~ilar

leiso~s in the central nervous system or the gastro-mtestmal
tract.
4. Frenal ulcers are due to whooping cough.
Thrush (candida albicans) occurs ~~m,:nonly in
. 5. I occur in adults during ant1b1ot1c therapy
mfants. It may a so .
(particularly with tetracycline).
· or syphilis
6 . Smoking ' spirits, betel -chewing, spice
I koplakia of the tongue.
(tertiary) may give rise to eu
atches of the tongue are
7. Dark brownis_h or blac~ P oral antibiotic therapy.
due to fungal infection followmg
. .
,n excess around midday.
lhe 'i\n and Yang are, therefore
ba\ance.
C1 + C2 + C3 _ nearly 8 qoals
0
I
2 (occurs t1 1r g
1
d ranee of
1here is a prepon e b rnidda I •
preponderance of Veno 11 the ct 1
of a hea\thV PE::rson. d y 8 ng ener9 t'
the \eve\s of Yin an
as fo\\oWS :- The LUO!J Char ~ ,r,
1
3 a.n1. .. 5 a.m. (most strong of '( '

The Large I ntesti~e )T}l;

5 a.m. - 7 a.m. Yangming (most strO; g
The Stomach Ch8J1,,. ~
1 a.m. - 9 a.m. ming (most strong a
The Spleen Ch
· an_oe
,-i, --;"---0":. - -
?-I' rt.i

9 a.m. - 11 a.m. (most strong of Vtn,.

The Heart Channe, o' ir-r: ~-~.;:-~a:!.),Ul
11 a.m. - 1 p.m. {less of Yin).
The Small Intestine a~~ - - -..an~~
1 p.m. - 3 P· m . Taiyang (intermediate a:::

3 p.m. - 5 p.m. The Urinary Bladder Cha ~ -

Taiyang (intermediate o'.jt ' - ~

5 p.m. - 7 p.m. The Kidney Channels of ~ Sf"~ nn

(less of Yin).
7 p.m. - ~ p.m. The Pericardium Chan
Jueyin (intermediate ~t

9 p.m. - 11 p.m. The Sanjiao Ch3nnel 'O ao-

Yang (less of , ,u,g)
11 p.m. - 1 a.m. The Gall Bladder Ghal-, i oot-
Shaoyang (less ol ~ •.u1~
1 a.m. - 3 a.m. 1:he Liver Channel ~t ~yin
(Intermediate of Vin) ..
390
 'l
ft int f

HOARSE VO IC E :
This is usually due to damag e of the vocal c
by overuse of the voice. Those in the speaking s
tra de
as polit icians, teachers, lawyers are spe
cially pro ne o t s
disorde r.
Baihui (Du 20 .).
Local points:-
Lianquan (Ren 23 .).
Neck-Futu (L.I. 18.).
- Tianrong (S.I. 17 .).
Dazhui (Du 14.).
Distal points:-
Tongli (H. 5.)-
Hegu (L.I. 4.).
If the hoarseness persists, the possibility of
the presence
of a neoplasm must be investigated by lar
yngoscopy.
 d
dIti n I
t
SpecH1c points:-
Tolxl (K. 3.).
Licque (Lu. 7.).
Distal pol nts :--
Hegu (L.I. 4.) (for front of head).
Walguan (S.J. 5.) (for side of head).
Llcque (Lu. 7.) (for back of head).

Electrical stimulation of the hr;iad area along with the

Distal points Is helpful. Tapping the affected area with
the plum blossom needle is also very effective.

PSORIASIS:
This is a non••infectlous skin disease characterized by
irregularly shaped, sllghtl)' raised red eatches with a scaly